Review: LG C4 OLED TV

I’m fine with sounding like a broken record: For the fourth generation in a row, LG’s 65 inch C-series OLED is my favorite high-end TV. You can spend more for 8k resolution or pay for a larger screen (even this model), but you simply won’t find a TV that looks this good and functions this well for the price.

Perfect black levels, eye-watering brightness and color highlights, and some of the best gaming performance I’ve ever experienced on a TV cement this year’s model as distinctly better, in my opinion, than Samsung’s competitor, the S90D. In fact, the C4 model can finally keep up with Samsung in brighter rooms and also supports Dolby Vision, which makes this an all-around choice with no asterisks for the first time.

Whether you’re a first-time OLED buyer or someone who has been in on the tech from the first generation and is looking for an upgrade, if you are a film or TV enthusiast, this is very likely the model for you.

OLED Royalty

A familiar pedestal mount and thin bezel surround what can otherwise be described as a pretty average-looking modern TV. It’s thin at the top and around the upper edges, but a blocky plastic box sits in back of the C4 to house all its techy bits, which means the upper section sort of floats when you wall mount it.

LG still includes its Wii-like Magic Remote, which allows you to point at the screen and click on what you want to select, rather than having to use the arrow keys. This makes it particularly easy to log into apps—LG’s tvOS supports all major streaming apps as well as Chromecast and Apple Airplay—when you’re first setting up the TV.

You actually don't even need the Magic Remote to change volume or turn it on or off: The TV can be spoken to (it has Alexa built-in), but I never found it particularly useful (it also works with Apple Home, Hey Google), though that's a nice feature for those who prefer voice commands.

Interface-wise, it’s very easy to find everything you need to adjust settings on the TV. A button on the remote pops up a simple adjustment screen on the left side of the screen, allowing you to adjust options for picture, sound, and more while whatever you have on the screen keeps playing. You can easily see what each setting is doing to the picture while you’re making changes.

I still prefer the simpler look of Roku and Google TV interfaces, but as far as major brands go, LG’s is the best in-house OS that I regularly use. The magic remote makes things so easy to quickly click on, and I find that LG’s apps for Netflix, Max, Apple TV+, and others all work flawlessly, which is something I can’t say about Samsung models (among other brands).

Under the Hood

Behind the left side of the screen you’ll find your four HDMI inputs, suited to do 4k resolution at up to 144 Hz. That’s more than enough for the highest-end consoles from Sony and Microsoft, which are capped at 120 Hz, but high-end gaming PCs can pump out 144—I was able to use mine to play racing games at 144 Hz and loved how smooth it looked compared to my usual 60-Hz display.

The biggest difference between this TV and the last generation, as exemplified by the increase in frame rate, is the processing power. LG has included its latest a9 processor (Gen 7) in these models, and there is notably better color and interface speed when compared to last year’s C3. This isn’t night-and-day stuff, but it does mean that there is actually a reason to choose the newer TV over the older one. AI upscaling, where it takes lower-res content and scales it up to 4K resolution, is particularly excellent.

The C4 supports Dolby Vision and other leading forms of HDR, which means you get excellent color highlights when watching HDR-enabled content. I was particularly wowed by the performance when streaming the latest Dune film, which has exceptional color grading. It also does super well with darker content, like any Game of Thrones or Star Wars episodes that you might find annoying to watch elsewhere.

Speaking of color: This TV is finally bright enough to compete with the LED displays from Samsung and others. It peaks at more than 1,000 nits, which is eye-watering stuff in most instances. You can place it in a well-lit room with no fear. I did find that the panel can get a bit wonky when viewed from extreme side angles—another reviewer called it a bit green from the side, but I see more of a teal blue tint—so I wouldn't pick this if you plan on having a lot of seating at the edges of your space.

You'll want to upgrade your audio. Down-firing speakers don't sound particularly awesome on any TV, and the C4 is no exception, but the TV can sync up with soundbars (like the pictured LG S95TR) in order to help contribute to a larger soundstage. That's a nice option for folks who like to same-brand their purchases and are doing a whole-theater upgrade. Just remember to buy a soundbar or outboard speaker system for a TV like this, or you're missing out on the real theater-like experience it can provide.

Exceptional Picture, Normal Money

When I think about just how good this TV looks, whether I'm in gaming mode, sport mode, or filmmaker mode, I am astonished that the price starts well below the $2,000 mark. This TV would have easily been tens of thousands of dollars just a few years ago, not that the technology it uses even existed.

It used to be that you had to make compromises to color, brightness, or backlighting to get a TV that could play games as well as it could play Spielberg, but that is no longer the case. With the C4, you can plug in and play your gaming PC with equal perfection as you can with a 4K Blu-Ray player and your favorite releases. Soon enough, the differences between gaming monitors and TVs will disappear completely.

For now, if you're looking for an excellent viewing experience and are willing to spend more than a thousand bucks for a TV—lest we forget, you can get also-great models for well under that—you really won't find many models, at any price, that look better than the LG C4. Given how things have gone, I expect to have similar thoughts about the C5 next year.